Emmenanthe penduliflora

Whispering bells

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Whispering bells is a California native annual found in chaparral and creosote-bush scrub habitats, growing in rocky, sandy, and serpentine soils at elevations up to 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces delicate cream to yellow flowers that fade to pale white, with blossoms 8 to 11 millimeters long and a limb 6 to 10 millimeters in diameter. Growing 5 to 85 centimeters tall with green to yellow-green stems that are few to many-branched, it develops an open, spreading form. Its leaves are green to yellow-green, measuring 1 to 8 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with an elegant, somewhat elongated shape. The fruit is an oblong capsule 7 to 10 millimeters long, containing 8 to 16 seeds and often developing on reddish-green pedicels.

Habitat: Chaparral to creosote-bush scrub, rocky, sandy, decomposed granite, serpentine soils, generally after fire, disturbance

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2200 m

California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, Los Angeles, Ventura, Imperial, Kern, Orange, San Diego, Lake, Santa Barbara, Tuolumne, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, Calaveras, Santa Clara, Tulare, Fresno, Mono, Monterey, Colusa, Stanislaus, Mendocino, Mariposa, San Benito, Alameda, Napa, Tehama, Amador, Merced, Sonoma, Glenn, Solano, San Joaquin, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.